MILITARY authorities claim to have killed over 600 Boko Haram fighters in a concerted attack on their base in Sambisa Forest that involved the Nigerian Air Force bombing the terrorists while ground troops launched a land offensive.

Targeted at Boko Haram's training camps and logistics facilities in Sambisa Forests, the strikes targeted the town of Gwoza where the terrorists have a base and resulted in 615 of them being killed. According to military sources, hundreds of other fighters have fled into the surrounding countryside as a result of the assault, while large caches of equipment were recovered.

Major General Chris Olukolade, the director of defence information, said that the training camps and logistics dumps of the sect, which were the primary targets of the operations, were destroyed. Describing the operation as highly successful, he added that the attack had been highly successful as it achieved the aims with required precision.

 “A concerted air campaign by the Nigerian Air Force is ongoing in furtherance of the mission to clear terrorists from all their enclaves. The air strikes targeted the training camps and logistics dumps of the terrorists in Sambisa Forests and parts of Gwoza and have been highly successful as it achieved the aims with required precision," Major General Olukolade added.

 According to local people, however, some of the terrorists who escaped, invaded the nearby town of Askira Uba, shooting residents, burning homes and public buildings, and leaving scores of people dead. About 220km south of Maiduguri, Askira Uba shares a border with the Sambisa Forest and was attacked by the terrorists, armed with AK47 rifles, improvised explosive devices, petrol bombs and riding in Toyota Hilux vehicles.